Arylsilanes are commercially available chemicals which are used in a variety of industrial and commercial products.
Only two processes appear to be used currently in industry to manufacture arylsilanes. One such process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,380,995 to Rochow et al. The Rochow method requires the use of halogenated phenyl compounds as precursor materials and produces halogenated phenyl byproducts. The byproducts formed by the Rochow process are considered environmentally hazardous materials and constitute a serious waste disposal problem for industry. This poses particularly acute problems with regards to waste disposal and storage of hazardous chemicals in view of today's environmental laws and regulations. The other process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,499,561 to Barry. The Barry process results in significant redistribution of the silane starting material, is very unselective as to products, with regards to allowing more than one aryl being attached to a silane or more than one silane being attached to an aryl, and requires undesirably high reaction temperature conditions (300.degree.-350.degree. C.) for synthesizing arylsilanes.
Another disadvantage of the Barry and Rochow processes is that neither allows for the synthesis of arylsilanes with functional groups on the aromatic ring.
Japanese Patent Nos. 01 96,186 and 187 (Tanaka et al.) describe a photolytic method of preparation of arylsilanes from hydrosilane and arene.
Another method of making arylsilanes is by way of utilizing Grignard reagents. However, these reagents are expensive and dangerous for large-scale synthesis.
There therefore remains an unfulfilled need in the art for a method of synthesizing arylsilanes which is free of the disadvantages of the methods described above.
More specifically, there remains a serious need in the art for a method of synthesizing arylsilanes, which does not create environmentally hazardous byproducts. Such a method would therefore advantageously avoid problems with regards to disposal or storage of hazardous wastes. Such a method would also favorably operate at lower temperatures and be more tolerant of different functional groups on the aromatic ring of the arylsilane due to relatively mild reaction conditions.
Further, it would be advantageous if such method for synthesizing arylsilanes was not dependent on photolysis.
Such a method encompassing all these advantages with regard to the synthesis of arylsilanes would constitute a considerable improvement over the existing technology.